Automobile signal



March 21, 1944.

J. R. DEMPSEY AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL Filed March 9, 1942 INVENTOR RT DEITIPSEY a \-Q/\n .\-m

.JFHTIES RDBE Patented Mar. 21, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL James Robert Dempsey, San Francisco, Calif.

Application March 9, 1942, Serial No. 433,905

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvement in signals and has particular reference to a signal to indicate when a vehicle on which the same has been positioned is moved so that an alarm will be given.

The principal object is to produce a device of this character which may be attached to any ordinary vehicle whereby when the same is vibrated the vibration will cause an audible signal to be given and repeated at each vibration thereof.

A further object is to produce a device which will not operate when the vehicle is parked upon u neven ground, and depends entirely upon the feature of vibration for its actuation.

A further object is to provide means for adjusting the contacts so that they will be in a neutral or in open circuit position when the device is installed upon a car and ready to be active.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. I is a top plan view of my device.

Fig. II is a schematic wiring diagram.

Fig. III is a side elevation of Fig. I, and turned 90, and

Fig. IV is a front elevation of Fig. III.

Many cars are stolen when left parked and also tires are removed as well as other equipment.

In order to move a car or to steal the tires it is necessary to set up vibrations incident to these acts and it is upon these vibrations that I depend for effecting a signal by sounding the horn of the vehicle being worked upon.

I have arranged my device in such a manner that after the same is once installed and adjusted, tipping of the vehicle to one side or the other, as for instance, parking upon an uneven surface, will not affect the signal in any manner, as the contacts will .be held through gravity, in a neutral or open circuit position, but by vibrating the car slightly, this vibration will cause a closing of an electric circuit to sound the alarm; and while the jacking of the car to remove the tires will not sound the alarm, the act of removing the nuts will set upon enough vibration to sound the signal.

In the drawing wherein for the purpose of i1- lustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5' designates a portion of the vehicle as, for instance, the dash board upon which may device may be positioned.

At 6 I have shown a stud secured to the dash board by a nut 1 and a shoulder 8 serves to position one leg 9 of an arm II, which terminates in a free contact end l2.

A similar leg l3 of an arm [4 also terminates in a free contact end l6.

Positioned between these arms H and I4 is an insulating member 11 which carries a reed it, upon the free end of which is positioned a weight 19.

A wire 2| contacts this reed with one side of a switch 22, which in turn is connected to the horn 23, which is in turn connected to one side of the battery 24, which, of course, is grounded as shown at 26.

The stud 6 is, of course, grounded to the dash board 5, and serves to conduct current from the arms II and 14 to the ground of the vehicle.

Referring now to Figs. III and IV, it will be noted that the leg l3 has a downwardly extending member 21, to which is hingedly attached as at 28 a pendulum 29, having a weight 31, which pendulum may be adjusted with respect to the downwardly extending member 21 through the medium of a thumb nut 32. The thumb nut 32 has been eliminated in Fig. IV, in order to better show a segmental opening 33 through which the threaded screw 34 carried by the downwardly extending member 21 passes.

The result of this construction is that when the device is attached to the vehicle the same is positioned some place within the vehicle where it cannot be tampered with and wired, as shown in Fig. II. V

The switch 22, however, is located outside of the vehicle and is preferably a lock type switch, so that after the person closes and locks the car the switch may be locked in closed position, thus eliminating the sounding of an alarm with the slamming of the vehicle door.

Assuming that the device has been installed, and an unauthorized person attempts to move the car or remove the tires therefrom, as soon as vibration takes place the reed I8 will move from side to side through the effect of the vibration on the weight l9. This movement is shown in one direction in dotted lines in Fig. I, and therefore when the reed contacts over the arm 12 or Hi the circuit will be completed from the battery through the horn and to the ground, thus causing the horn to sound, which will. of

course, give an audible indication that the vehicle is being tampered with.

When installing the device upon the vehicle, by loosening the thumb screw 32 and adjusting the pendulum 29, the parts may be so adjusted that the reed will be exactly centered between the contact arms l2 and I6, after which the thumb screw is tightened and further adjustment is therefore unnecessary.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A switch mechanism capable of use in a signaling device and comprising a. horizontal positioned stud, an arm pivotally mounted on said stud and having its free end spaced from said stud and parallel to the axis of said stud, a second arm pivotally mounted on said stud and having its free end spaced adjacent said first mentioned arm, insulating means secured between said arms at a point adjacent the pivotal mounting of said arms, a reed carried by said insulation and having its free end extending between and beyond the free end of said arms, a weight carried by the free end of said reed, said reed and said arms being electrically connected to the opposite sides of a source of electric energy, whereby when said reed and one of said arms engage, electrical current will flow therebetween, a downwardly extending pendulum connected to said arms, and means for adjustably locking said pendulum in fixed position with relation to said arms to normally space said reed from said arms when said device is static.

JAMES ROBERT DEMPSEY. 

